Editorial: State budget proposal spreads surplus to both sides of the aisle

Surplus spread to both sides of the aisle

The Lansing State Journal:

...No doubt Snyder's proposal to spend $102 million restoring Homestead Property Tax Credits for additional taxpayers will be welcomed by many, as will the fact that the credits would be retroactive to the 2013 tax year. Advocates for low income Michiganders and working families, though, were quick to call for more: restoration of Earned Income Tax Credits, rolling back the income tax on pensioners.

... Still, there are key areas where the majority of Michiganders should agree and make their feelings known to lawmakers as the budget progresses:

? The governor's spending for roads is too modest. He still holds hope that lawmakers will respond to his request for $1 billion in new funding through a revision in gas taxes and registration fees. His budget, though, proposed $254 million to match federal money and maintain Michigan's roads and bridges.

There is a missed opportunity if more of this one-time surplus doesn't go toward the long-term investment of infrastructure, especially given lawmakers inertia on this issue (they've not approved a change in the gas tax since 1997).

? Improved spending for higher education is one of the most important items in Snyder's proposal. The governor wants to increase spending by 6.1 percent, or $80 million, for the state's 15 public universities, but would require that they hold tuition increases to 3.2 percent.

The Detroit Free Press:

Spreading Michigan's budget surplus to cover as many bases as possible seems to be the goal of Gov. Rick Snyder's final first-term spending plan, while not-so-subtly answering the demands of election year politics. Presented Wednesday, it's a smart blueprint that gets a good deal of mileage out of the $1 billion windfall.

The big winner is education, both K-12 schools and public colleges and universities would receive sizable increases in the 2015 spending plan.

... Educators should be happy with this budget. Snyder is seeking a 3 percent increase in funding for K-12 public schools and community colleges and a 6.1 percent boost for higher education. This is the largest jump in higher ed funding in Michigan since 2001 and would help restore some of the state support that's shrunk considerably in the past decade.

In return, the governor rightly expects the state's 15 public universities to hold tuition increases to less than 3.2 percent. In total, education gets a $600 million increase in this budget.

Lawmakers have a solid blueprint to work with as they begin budget deliberations. They can make it better by answering their responsibility to Michigan's roads and bridges.